This past summer, people from around the country were focused on one election. In New York City’s mayoral race, leftist Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani won the democratic primary against former Governor Andrew Cuomo. At the start of the campaign, Mamdani had comparatively little experience and backing. He relied on a short-form social media campaign and populist messaging around affordability, which won him 43.5 percent of the popular vote. Mamdani is slated to win in November by a 22 point margin, per the most recent poll released by Siena College. While he has been victorious so far, the assemblyman faces greater challenges, from his opponents to other major players. What is more, Mamdani’s troubles will not end if he wins. His public image will face scrutiny and attack both on the campaign trail, and in his potential mayoral career.
Mamdani has a focused agenda to freeze rents and improve public services. I cannot predict the future, so I cannot say whether or not these programs will actually work. But the message is already clear: If you are struggling, Zohran Mamdani will listen to you and help you. This message helps Mamdani deflect some labels that could be political black marks for other candidates. Opposing candidates have strongly emphasized that he is a socialist, pro-Palestine and anti-cop. Mamdani has not rejected the first two labels to win moderate support. Instead, he acknowledges those labels and frames himself as someone who cares about equality and human rights. He then focuses the conversation back to affordability. You do not need to read Marx to want cheaper groceries. In the end, Mamdani leaves his opponents busy raving about socialism and Israel while he is talking about how he can save his voters’ money. His opponents look like conspiracy theorists while he looks approachable and helpful.
Although Mamdani can turn unpopular labels into positive ones, he may run into trouble from his anti-police past. The incumbent, Eric Adams, who won on an anti-crime platform, has brought up old tweets from Mamdani calling for the New York City Police Department (NYPD) to be defunded. Recently, Mamdani has walked back from these statements, instead focusing on improving relations between police and communities. He seeks to create a Department of Public Safety to tackle mental health and homelessness problems that would typically be handled by police. While these initiatives are more progressive than his opponents, he has clearly tried to abandon more radical rhetoric, including a 2020 X (formerly Twitter) post in which he characterized the NYPD as “a major threat to public safety.” Eric Adams, however, still has more support from the NYPD, getting a re-election endorsement back in July from 13 police unions, per The New York Times. He and Cuomo have successfully pushed the message that Mamdani is weak on crime. According to Vera Action, crime is not as major an issue this election compared to cost of living, which Mamdani has been strong with. But, Mamdani’s efforts to build bridges with the NYPD will be hampered by their preference for other candidates, along with the anti-cop sentiment in his existing leftist base.
In addition to flak on legitimate issues, Mamdani faces unconstructive slander. , which will not only come from his direct opponents. The fact that this mayoral election is being followed all over the country should not be overlooked. People who cannot vote in New York City have formed opinions of the candidates and are paying attention to an election they normally would not. Larger Republican and Democrat figures are voicing either support or disapproval of Mamdani. President Donald Trump has directed his platform to drag his name through the mud. “I’m not gonna let this communist lunatic destroy New York,” Trump posted on social media. Trump has also, according to Associated Press (AP), offered to give Eric Adams a federal job if he drops out of the race, in order to keep the anti-Mamdani vote from being split. Right-wing politicians, media and citizens will have Mamdani under a microscope, waiting for him to fail. These are not normal conditions for a mayoral candidate to run or govern under.
Nevertheless, Mamdani has been dealing with outside slander in a way that energizes his supporters within the city. In a way, Trump’s own bombastic actions and statements already do this. The president, while gaining some ground in the 2024 election, still lost to a blue majority in New York City. It is safe to say that his popularity has not improved since then. Mamdani could simply condemn Trump’s attempts to interfere and gain favor with a wary blue New York, but he has gone a step further. He emphasizes the investment Trump has in his opponents’ success, painting them as effectively puppets of the President. He has even gone as far as to challenge Donald Trump himself to a debate, posting on X, “Let’s cut out the middleman.”
Trump is painting Mamdani as an existential socialist threat to Americans, while Mamdani is painting Trump as a puppetmaster trying to take over New York. While this rhetoric makes sense in the short term, it also follows a dreaded pattern I have been seeing among Democrats where they devote more time talking about Trump than issues. Trump’s behavior causes fear for the future, yes, but trying to leverage that fear and frustration leads to Democratic politicians and organizers closing their tent and disengaging with swing voters or past Republican voters. I believe they tried this last year and failed. Mamdani’s mandate is not to fight Trump. His mandate is to be the mayor of New York. Both Mamdani and his supporters should keep this in mind.
Is it fair that Trump can slander Mamdani while the candidate is constrained from doing the same? No. Mamdani prides himself on being an outsider in politics, and that means playing a game where everyone is against you. If he wins, it will not be because he “owned MAGA,” but because he got people from all sides of politics to rally around his policy. So yes, life is going to be hell for Zohran Mamdani. Everyone and their mother is trying to make him lose, and he cannot always fight back. But if he stays focused on the issues, he can win.